The Start of the Holiday

We made it! We're in Melbourne! It's a beautiful day. My parents and brother Jon are on a plane right now from Sydney to here. We're going to see them very soon.

This morning, we took the airport bus to the city and walked from the train station in the Docklands to our hotel in Southbank. With our luggage and my taking pictures, it took us all of 20 minutes to get from one place to another. We would have gotten there faster otherwise.

As we were leaving the train station, we found a place where you can rent bikes. You just put money in the machine and take it. I think it's smart, green and FUN!

We walked over the bridge to the Southbank area and got very good views of (part of) the skyline.

We passed the Melbourne Aquarium. They have a hammerhead shark exhibit there right now. It sounds very good, although I was not impressed with the aquarium the last time I went.

Here's a view of our hotel (on the left). It's across the street from the Eureka Tower (the tallest building in Melbourne).

I'm very happy with our hotel room. Al and I have a one-bedroom serviced apartment, and my parents and Jon and sharing a two-bedroom apartment.

Once we settled into our room, we walked to McDonald's to get an early lunch. The front of the restaurant was open (no windows or doors), and there were the funniest little birds begging for our food. As you see, I caught this one in the act of stealing a fry.

There were many hungry birds on top of the glass.

There were many hungry birds on the table!

After lunch, we took a walk through the central business district. Look at this Santa Claus! It's a real person!  He was surrounded by people, so I'm surprised that I got a clear picture.

We also walked past Myer, which has the Christmas stories in the windows. This version was The Nutcracker. You can slightly make it out in the photo if you look closely. It reminds me of being a little girl and seeing the Marshall Field's (NOT Macy's) windows in Chicago!

Melbourne is loaded with trams! They seem to have great public transportation.

We finally walked along the river before turning in to our hotel. There's a view of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It's going to be swarming with people in two days. 

Now, time to wait for the visitors to turn up!